• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
The Kitchen and a Latte
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • How to
  • Meal Planning
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Meal Planning
  • How to
  • About Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Meal Planning
    • How to
    • About Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Meal Planning

    Weekly Meal Plan 3 - Budget Meals

    Published: Oct 7, 2022 · Updated: Oct 7, 2022 by Dawn · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Do you find yourself struggling to come up with ideas for meals? Are you trying to stick to a budget? We are creating meal plans for our readers and this week's meal plan is perfect for busy families on a budget! We've got seven easy and affordable recipes that will keep your family fed and happy.

    Weekly meal plan budget meals. Salisbury steak, taco pie, smoked sausage and rice, cheesy broccoli and rice, busy day soup, chicken parmesan and pork with apples and squash.

    With the prices of food going up, I understand the need for cheaper meals! For this week we are doing meals that can be fit into most grocery budgets. They do not have a lot of ingredients or they have inexpensive ingredients. Many of the ingredients are common spices so you likely will not have to buy a lot for these meals.

    Last week we had an Instant Pot weekly meal plan, if you have an IP be sure to check it out! They were easy and delicious.

    Here is the shopping list for this week's meal plan - Meal Plan 3 Budget Meals. You will need to download it to edit, but it is an editable PDF. You will need software like Adobe Acrobat to edit, but you only need the free version to edit and print. To print without editing, you do not need any software.

    You can change these around to fit the days you want to make them.

    Jump to:
    • Sunday - Salisbury Steak
    • Monday - Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Rice
    • Tuesday - Taco Pie
    • Wednesday - Pork Chops with Butternut and Apples
    • Thursday - Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti
    • Friday - Smoked Sausage and Rice
    • Saturday - Busy Day Soup
    • Conclusion

    Sunday - Salisbury Steak

    Salisbury steak in a cast iron skillet ready to serve.

    We like to start the week off with a hearty meal like this delicious Salisbury steak by Smarty Pants Kitchen. It is easy and fairly cheap to make so it is perfect to add to our budget meal plan!

    We serve it with some mashed potatoes (you can use instant or homemade) and a veggie like green beans. You can certainly serve it with your favorite side, it doesn't have to be potatoes! But as a tip if you want to make it really simple, serve with baked potatoes. Easy prep and cleanup.

    Monday - Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Rice

    cheesy chicken and broccoli rice casserole in a dish being served.

    Mondays can be a mess and sometimes stressful. I don't think it is just my household that thinks Mondays can be rough! So we like to do simple because why add to the stress, right?

    A meal like cheesy broccoli chicken rice by Faith Filled Food for Moms is the perfect budget friendly meal for a busy Monday. This casserole is delicious and really easy to make. The family will love it!

    Tuesday - Taco Pie

    Slice of taco pie on a serving plate topped with avocado and tomato chunks.

    Do you love Taco Tuesday? We do too! Really any time is a good time for them, but we can make them on Tuesdays. Our quick and easy taco pie is full of flavor and pretty cheap to make! It's the perfect recipe to add to a budget meal plan.

    We use store brand corn chips for this to keep the cost down, but you can also use Fritos. There is also a cilantro lime sour cream that we added to the recipe and think you will love it, but you can use plain sour cream in it's place. The lime and cilantro on the shopping list are labeled optional and you can delete them if you choose to.

    Wednesday - Pork Chops with Butternut and Apples

    Pork chops in a frying pan topped with chopped apples and squash ready to serve.

    I love one dish meals like these pork chops with cinnamon apples and butternut squash by I Heart Eating. These pork chops are easy to make and full of flavor! It is total comfort food for us on a fall or winter day.

    Bone in pork chops are often cheaper per pound then boneless, making this a perfect meal to add to the budget meal plan. We love using honey crisp apples for this meal, they are our favorite! But she does list a couple others that are good as well in her notes of her recipe card.

    Thursday - Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti

    Breaded chicken in sauce in a cast iron skillet topped with melted mozzarella cheese.

    This is one of my absolute favorite meals since I was a kid. Seriously even when we go out to eat at an Italian restaurant I find myself ordering it. This skillet chicken parmesan is easy to make and full of flavor!

    We included an easy to make homemade sauce in the recipe, but you can use a jar of store bought sauce as well. The grocery list for the budget meal plan was written with the ingredients for the homemade sauce.

    Friday - Smoked Sausage and Rice

    Smoked sausage and rice skillet in a serving dish ready to eat.

    By Friday we are often tired here. The weeks can be busy and we used to order out every other Friday to keep it easy on us. Eating out can be a nice treat, but it can add up too! It's just not always in the budget, I get it.

    So instead of ordering out, try this delicious smoked sausage and rice dish by Kylee Cooks. It is really easy to make, affordable and delicious. It's perfect after a busy week when you want to keep it simple.

    Saturday - Busy Day Soup

    busy day soup in a serving bowl ready to eat.

    Saturdays can be just as crazy as the rest of the week sometimes! It is like you try to cram everything you couldn't do during the week into Saturday so you can rest on Sunday. Ok, maybe that was just my house when we worked out of the house and had kids in school.

    The last day of the budget meal plan is really easy to make too! This busy day soup by Simply Stacie is so easy to make and your family will love it. It has only a few ingredients and is fairly cheap to make. We serve it with dinner rolls, but they are optional!

    Conclusion

    I know that rising food prices are really hurting many people. I see almost double the prices on most of my everyday grocery items. But you can still cook homemade meals for your family on a budget!

    We will be adding more budget meals to our site as well, but we hope that these gave you some delicious ideas for you to cook for the week.

    More Meal Planning

    • Weekly Meal Plan 4 - Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Weekly Meal Plan 2 - Instant Pot Dinners
    • Weekly Meal Plan 1 - Easy Dinners
    • Meal Planning to Save Money on Groceries

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Meet Dawn

    Dawn Conklin profile picture
    Hey there! Welcome to our fun and delicious place on the Internet. I am Dawn - the kitchen mess maker, recipe developer and the one behind the scenes. I share recipes that you can make with mostly simple ingredients. Welcome to our kitchen where life is full of good food and lattes!

    .

    More about me →

    Side Dishes

    • Cranberry Sauce With Orange and Cinnamon
    • Easy Lentil Pasta Salad
    • Grilled Ranch Potatoes in Foil Packs
    • Best Grilled Potato Wedges

    We use affiliate links

    We have affiliate links on our blog which means at no extra cost to you, we may earn a commission if you click on a link from our site.  Please read our affiliate disclosure for more details.

    Amazon Disclosure:

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

    Footer

    We share free recipes for you to enjoy.  All recipes have been tested here before sharing.  There are various reasons why something might not turn out the same.  Our altitude is low, we use a gas stove and gas grill here.  Different devices cook differently, please adjust accordingly.

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Photo Use Policy
    • Stories
    • Terms and Conditions

    Copyright © 2023 Kitchen and a Latte LLC